by Janet Dickelman
Now that the 2020 ACB conference and convention is over, I want to take the time to offer my heartfelt appreciation, but where to begin!
ACB Radio: for all the recordings, streaming and huge amounts of your time and efforts! I worked most closely with Debbie Hazelton, Jeff Bishop, Jason Castonguay, Tony Stephens and Rick Morin, the king of the spreadsheet (otherwise known as Boston 1 through 4). We never could have done this convention without you and the many other ACB Radio folks who I didn’t work with directly but know you were heavily involved. Then there was Jo Lynn Bailey-Page, who worked behind the scenes to make sure everyone was ready to go during general sessions and evening programming.
Zoom: Deb Lewis for the herculean task of organizing all the Zoom sessions, and creating so many Zoom invitations. For all the Zoom facilitators who were always there keeping our sessions on track, you were amazing!
Community Calls: To Cindy and all the individuals who worked so hard to promote the convention on so many community calls. I am certain that brought attendees to our 2020 conference.
Staff: The Alexandria and Minneapolis office staff who worked so many extra hours and devoted their work and outside work lives to this convention for the last several months. I couldn’t do this without your support and encouragement.
Sponsors: To our corporate sponsors and our individual sponsors, thank you for giving to ACB during these difficult financial times. Your support at any amount is very much appreciated.
Exhibitors: Thank you for being in our virtual exhibit hall. I realize it was a very different setting this year; I hope you found it a rewarding experience. I enjoyed listening to many of your presentations and can’t wait to catch them all now that I have a little extra time.
Special-interest affiliates and committees: Thank you for being able to quickly adjust from your in-person convention plans to an unknown virtual environment. You all held outstanding sessions and were very cooperative in getting me the information I needed for your programming. Again, I look forward to “attending” all the sessions as soon as the podcasts are available.
Convention registration: Those of you who had assistance registering over the telephone had the privilege of speaking to Kim Carmichael, Tracy George, Karen Spry or Paula Wiese. Those ladies spent so much of their time ensuring that everyone who needed registration help received it.
Information desk: Vicky Prahin and Karen Spry took on the daunting task of answering information desk calls throughout the convention. I know what a lot of work that was!
Tech Support: Viola Bentson and Jeff Bishop ably managed the convention tech desk. I apologize to anyone who ended up talking to me for tech support. <smile>
Long-time conventioneers: I missed seeing you in the elevator lines, restaurants and stopping by to chat. Thanks for your willingness to embrace our virtual environment this year.
New attendees: It was wonderful to have so many first-time attendees join us this year. We now know what a need there is to continue a virtual presence in future conventions. Thank you for sharing your stories and feedback.
Dan Spoone and the ACB board: Thank you for your ongoing support and entrusting me with this awesome role as convention coordinator. I love doing this for ACB.
Convention Committee: You know who you are, what you do, and how much you mean to me.
Notes: I will try and reply to all the notes I received regarding this convention; I always welcome your feedback and suggestions. Thank you for taking the time to write.
To all of you: If I missed thanking anyone, it was not intentional but inadvertent. There were so many moving parts to this convention; please know all your efforts were appreciated.
Now our focus moves toward Phoenix. Convention dates are Friday, July 23 through Friday, July 30 at the Hyatt Regency Phoenix. Room rates are $95 per night plus tax. Reservation information will be posted later this year.
Staying in Touch
The conference and convention announce list will be filled with information. To subscribe to the list, send a blank email to [email protected]. If you received updates for the 2020 convention, you do not need to re-subscribe.
For any convention-related questions, please contact Janet Dickelman, convention chair, at (651) 428-5059 or via email, [email protected].